The Bear and the Maiden Fair (episode)
"The Bear and the Maiden Fair" is the seventh episode of the third season of Game of Thrones. It is the twenty-seventh episode of the series overall.WinterIsComing.net, February 28, 2013. It premiered on May 12, 2013. It was written by series creator George R.R. Martin and directed by Michelle MacLaren. Plot Summary Appearances :Main: The Bear and the Maiden Fair (episode)/Appearances Characters First *Myranda *Violet *Grazdan mo Eraz *Steelshanks Deaths Production Cast Starring *Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister *Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister *Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen *Kit Harington as Jon Snow *Richard Madden as King Robb Stark *Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont *Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark *Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister *Natalie Dormer as Lady Margaery Tyrell *Carice van Houten as Melisandre *Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Prince Bran Stark *Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark *Maisie Williams as Princess Arya Stark *Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy *Oona Chaplin as Queen Talisa Stark *Jack Gleeson as King Joffrey Baratheon *Joe Dempsie as Gendry *Sibel Kekilli as Shae *Rose Leslie as Ygritte *Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn *Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane Guest starring *Mackenzie Crook as Orell *Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth *Richard Dormer as Lord Beric Dondarrion *Paul Kaye as Thoros of Myr *Noah Taylor as Locke *Natalia Tena as Osha *Anton Lesser as Qyburn *Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton *Clive Russell as Ser Brynden Tully *Tobias Menzies as Lord Edmure Tully *Ian McElhinney as Ser Barristan Selmy *Iwan Rheon as the boy *Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane *Thomas Brodie-Sangster as Jojen Reed *Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed *Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei *Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm *Kristian Nairn as Hodor *Philip McGinley as Anguy *George Georgiou as Grazdan mo Eraz *Jamie Michie as Steelshanks *Charlotte Hope as Myranda *Stephanie Blacker as Violet *Art Parkinson as Prince Rickon Stark Cast notes *21 of 28 cast members for the third season appear in this episode. *Starring cast members Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister), Aidan Gillen (Petyr Baelish), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), John Bradley (Samwell Tarly) and Conleth Hill (Varys) are not credited and do not appear in this episode. Notes *The title of the episode comes from The Bear and the Maiden Fair, a popular song in Westeros. *Parts of this episode were filmed in Los Angeles, USA, because they involve a live actor-bear (named Little Bart) and there are various legal restrictions on international transport of large animals such as bears.WinterIsComing.net, January 28th, 2013. *This episode was originally announced by George R.R. Martin on his blog in 2012, almost a year ahead of transmission. The original planned title was "Autumn Storms". In January 2013 he announced that the title had been changed to "Chains". However, due to scenes from another episode being moved into it, it was decided to retitle the episode to "The Bear and the Maiden Fair". Thus Martin himself didn't write the scenes that include the bear. *The books so far have left it deliberately ambiguous if Margaery Tyrell is a virgin, as she claims to be. At one point she is medically examined (by septas) and it is determined that her hymen isn't intact, but even Cersei Lannister - who hates Margaery and would jump on even the flimsiest evidence to disparage her - points out that this isn't reliable evidence, as it is very common for noble-born girls to have their hymens ruptured from horseback riding, long before they are wed. This episode also leaves it ambiguous: Sansa asks if Margaery knows so much about sex because she was told by her mother, and Margaery just smiles and says yes, of course. *This episode marks the first time that Tywin Lannister has had a significant scene with his grandson King Joffrey Baratheon. They did previously appear together in the Season 2 finale, but that was a public ceremony in which everyone was reciting pre-scripted lines to each other. This marks the first time that Joffrey and Tywin have actually interacted in person - this is somewhat indicated within the story itself, as Joffrey has summoned Tywin to complain that he's leaving him out of Small Council meetings. *Word has finally reached the highest levels of King's Landing itself that Daenerys Targaryen has hatched three live dragons in the distant east of Essos. Varys did previously mention it to Tyrion in "The Prince of Winterfell", but they decided to focus on the impending attack by Stannis. This episode has King Joffrey and Tywin (the real power behind the throne) discussing Daenerys, while Joffrey is physically sitting on the very throne Daenerys' father once sat on. *Viserys previously described the dragon skulls kept in the throne room when he was having sex with Doreah in "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things" - except in that episode, Viserys said that the dragon skulls were arranged so that they got progressively bigger as they got closer to the Iron Throne, while in this episode, Tywin says that the smallest skulls were near the Iron Throne, the largest on the far side of the room. Viserys said that the skull of the smallest one wasn't much bigger than that of a dog's skull, but Tywin says the smallest was the size of an apple (the books say it was the size of a dog's skull; Tywin may have been intended to be exaggerating). Joffrey points out that the biggest skull was the size of a carriage - Arya previously saw a dragon skull of such size when she wandered into the Red Keep's dungeons in Season 1's "The Wolf and the Lion"; the largest dragons were said to be easily capable of swallowing a horse whole. In the books :See Differences between books and TV series - Season 3#The Bear and the Maiden Fair (episode) Image gallery Little Bart the Bear.jpg|The eponymous bear, played by Little Bart the actor-bear. Brienne Season 3 trailer.jpg|The eponymous maiden-fair, Brienne of Tarth. References Category:Season 3 Category:Season 3 Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Season 3 Episodes